Lorus

Seiko Clocks

Spring Drive

1977. A young Seiko engineer started to wonder how he could make his dream of "the ever-lasting watch" come true. In his vision: a watch wound by a mainspring and with one-second-a-day accuracy, a precision that only the finest electronic watches could deliver. This engineer, Yoshikazu Akahane, was a persistent and dedicated man. It took him 28 years, countless set-backs and over 600 prototypes, but he and his team eventually succeeded by inventing new technologies in every aspect of the watchmaker's art. In 2005, Seiko Spring Drive came of age.

"It took him 28 years, countless set-backs and over 600 prototypes, but he and his team eventually succeeded by inventing new technologies in every aspect of the watchmaker's art"

Four Key Features of Spring Drive

High accuracy

The Tri-synchro regulator controls and releases the mechanical, electrical and electro-magnetic energy generated by the mainspring. It replaces the escapement and, with its one-way motion, it is inherently more stable, durable and precise. Spring Drive is accurate to 1 second per day.

Long Power Reserve

The new generation mainspring delivers more power, more smoothly and for longer. A special alloy, developed in-house by Seiko, generates increased power in addition to being durable and highly resistant to heat or corrosion. Spring Drive has a power reserve of 72 hours, even if the chronograph is in continuous operation.

Glide-motion

As the movement has no escapement, all the motion within it is circular, in a single direction, allowing the hands to move constantly with a unique glide-motion. Spring Drive is the only watch in the world to express the natural and continuous flow of time.

Fast winding

In 1959 Seiko invented an original component from the winding mechanism of a mechanical watch, the 'Magic Lever.' It boosted the efficiency of the automatic winding mechanism, by using the energy created by each swing, in both directions, of the rotor. With direct installation to the rotor shaft, the newly designed 'Magic Lever' system delivers more efficient transmission of power than ever.

Mechanism

Source of energy

The sole motive power is the mainspring.

Transmission

The power of the mainspring is transmitted via gear train to the hands and to the Tri-synchro regulator.

Regulation

The Tri-synchro regulator controls the speed of the glide wheel and the hands by electromagnetic braking.

Three Key Innovations

The Tri-synchro regulator

Developed by Seiko especially for Spring Drive, the Tri-synchro regulator

Controls the mainspring's mechanical energy

Converts a small part of this energy into electricity to power the quartz crystal

Generates a magnetic force to regulate the speed of the glide wheel

These three diverse forms of energy gives the regulator the 'tri' in its name.

The Mainspring

Seiko developed a new high-elasticity alloy "Spron 510" for the mainspring.SPRON 510* is Seiko's unique alloy and leads the industry and delivers extended power and accuracy. *SPRON is a registered trademark of Seiko Instruments Inc.

The Magic Lever

Magic Lever is a unique winding system first developed by SEIKO in 1959. In SPRING DRIVE a new Magic Lever winding system fitted directly to the shaft of the rotor gives greater efficiency and allows a shorter winding period and a longer power reserve.

Spring Drive Chronograph

Glide Motion Hand

The chronograph second hand moves in glide motion and measures up to twelve hours. It stops precisely when the button is pressed, not at the nearest second or 1/10th of a second.

The Spring Drive Chronograph is the only watch that can measure with precision the natural and continuous flow of time.

Vertical clutch & Column wheel

Vertical Clutch

The vertical clutch delivers high precision to the chronograph operation, and the chronograph second hand never jumps when it starts. This allows a level of accuracy (one second per day) that far exceeds that of any other luxury chronograph.

Column Wheel

The Spring Drive chronograph is equipped with a column wheel for maximum stability in the switching mechanism. This eight-pillar component controls the chronograph function with error-free precision, and creates maximum durability and reliability.

Two-step system

Column Wheel

The precision and accuracy in chronograph measurement is secured by the two-step push button system. A slight resistance at the halfway point and the reassuringly solid 'click' ensure the operator captures the precise moment to start or stop the chronograph.